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periyAzhwAr thirumozhi >> First Centum >> Sixth Decad
avathArikai (Introduction)
There is no specific avathArikai for this pAsuram.
aLandhitta thUNai avan thatta AngE
vaLarndhittu vALugirchchinga uruvAy
uLandhottu iraNiyan oNmArvu agalam
piLandhitta kaigaLAl chappANi pEy mulai uNdAnE! chappANi
Word-by-Word Meanings
aLandhu itta – constructed by hiraNyan, after measuring
thUNai – pillar
avan – he himself
thatta – kicked furiously
AngE – in that pillar itself (at the place where he hit)
vAL – cruel, like a sword
ugir – having nails
singam uru Ay – in the form of narasimha [lion face and human body]
vaLarndhittu – growing up
uLam – his heart
thottu – analysing (would he have become favourable, at the least, now?)
iraNiyan – hiraNyan’s
oL – shiny
agalam – being broad
mArvu – chest
piLandhitta kaigaLAl – with the hands, which tore, clap.
pEy – pUthanA’s
mulai – (poisoned) bosom
uNdAnE – oh, one who consumed (along with her life)! Clap.
Simple Translation
hiraNyAsuran (monster, hiraNyan) had himself measured and constructed a pillar. When he hit that pillar, while ascertaining the existence of emperumAn, you had grown inside that pillar itself, as narasimha, with nails as sharp and cruel as a sword. You should clap with the hands with which you had analysed the heart of hiraNyan and tore his broad and shiny chest. Oh, one who had consumed the milk from pUthanA’s bosom, along with her life! You should clap.
vyAkhyAnam (Commentary)
aLandhu … – it was a pillar which he had measured to ensure that it was appropriate for him, and erected by hiraNyan, lest someone say that “It was built with narasimha inside”.
thiruvAimozhip piLLai, in his svApadhESam, says that hiraNyan, who considers that there is no deity other than himself, had erected that pillar on a day which was fitting [auspicious] for him, grouting it well
avan thatta – if someone had hit that pillar, it could have been said that “Someone had hidden narasimha inside the hand and thrust narasimha inside that pillar”. Instead, hiraNyan, unable to bear the words of prahlAdhan [his son] who had sworn, as in thiruvAimozhi 2-8-9 “engum uLan” (he is omnipresent), that emperumAn was present everywhere, he became furious with his son, just as it has been said in periya thirumozhi 2-3-8 “piLLaiyaich chIRi veguNdu pudaippa” (hitting (the pillar) after becoming very furious with his son), and due to excess of that fury, hit the pillar saying “But, the one, who you are referring to, is not present here”.
AngE – If emperumAn had manifested himself in a place other than where hiraNyan had hit, he would have said that his solemn declaration that “He is not here” is true. Hence, in that pillar, in the same place where hiraNyan hit …
vaLarndhittu – narasimha grew huge such that hiraNyan, who was said to be huge as said in periya thirumozhi 9-4-4 “pariya iraNiyan” (hiraNyan who was huge), appeared like a dwarf.
vAL ugirch chinga uruvAy – hiraNyan had obtained boons from brahmA, rudhra et al, by which he could not be killed by weapons known, by any of the four species such as dhEva, manushya et al [celestial, human et al] etc. Ensuring that these boons were not compromised, emperumAn appeared in the form of narasimha, with splendorous nails.
thiruvAimozhip piLLai says here: emperumAn appeared with lion on top. SrI gajEndhran [elephant which was caught by a crocodile in a pond when the elephant had entered to pluck a lotus flower in order to offer to emperumAn] had cried out, as mentioned in siRiya thirumadal “nArAyaNA! vArAy” (Oh, nArAyaNa! Come). While emperumAn is pervading everywhere, inside any object, at all times, prahlAdhan saying that nArAyaNa is present everywhere is similar to gajEndhran saying “maNivaNNA nAgaNaiyAy” (Oh, one who has a divine form like a gemstone! Oh, one who is lying on the mattress of AdhiSEshan!). There [in the case of gajEndhran] there was no doubt about emperumAn’s existence. However, here hiraNyan had that doubt. Hence, considering the all-pervading concept of “engum uLan”, since there was a reason required for demonstrating that, since hiraNyan was torturing emperumAn’s follower, unable to tolerate that, while he had tolerated the offences of hiraNyan doubting his existence earlier, now, he appeared in the same place and at the same time when hiraNyan hit the pillar. Thus, in the thiruvAimozhi pAsuram 2-8-9 “AngE appozhudhE avan vIya…” (there itself, at the same time (when hiraNyan hit the pillar) and to destroy that hiraNyan …), through the term angu, contrast with some other place [he appeared at the same place], through the term appozhudhE contrast with some other time [he appeared at the same time] and through the term avan vIya, contrast with any other form have been indicated. In the same manner, avan thatta AngE also indicates the same. In order to prevent appearance of his divine weapons, he appeared with vALugir (shiny nails).
uLam thottu – prahlAdhan had said [that emperumAn is] “present everywhere”. In the place where hiraNyan had declared “He is not present here”, emperumAn had appeared. Also, he had appeared in a form which was not included in any of the forms that he had taken exceptions from. Just as it has been said in periyAzhwAr thirumozhi 4-9-8 “siram paRRi mudi idiyak kaN pidhunga vAy alaRath thezhiththAn” (holding hiraNyan by his head, emperumAn tore his hair such that his eyes popped out, he cried out aloud), each of emperumAn’s strikes was severe on hiraNyan. emperumAn thought that with all these, hiraNyan, out of fear, would have softened his stand and would have become favourable towards him. Hence, he analysed hiraNyan’s heart for any softness …
thiruvAimozhip piLLai says here that emperumAn examined the heart of hiraNyan to see if there was any change in his stance: (1) Despite all the torment which hiraNyan meted out to prahlAdhan, since prahlAdhan was not affected, he could have let go of his arrogance and become favourable. (2) When prahlAdhan told him “At least now, perform an anjali to emperumAn”, he could have recalled his earlier offences and become favourable. (3) When hiraNyan had denied emperumAn’s existence and when emperumAn appeared as narasimha, hiraNyan could have thought of emperumAn’s omnipresence, and due to his shame, could have become favourable. (4) After seeing the fierce form of ugram (fury) vIram (valour) etc of emperumAn’s as narasimha, out of fear, he could have become favourable. (5) Unlike rAvaNa, who, after losing his bow to SrI rAma, had to return to his palace empty handed, just as mentioned in SrI rAmAyaNam yudhdha kANdam 59-140 “chachAla chApam cha mumOcha vIra:” (with his bow having fallen, he appeared like a valorous person), hiraNyan did not have that opportunity to go back and come for another day’s battle. Due to lack of power, he could have become favourable. (6) After being hit by narasimha, as brought out by pAsurams such as periya thirumadal 35 “vAy thagarththu” (his mouth getting torn), thiruchchandha viruththam 25 “uraththinil karaththai vaiththu” ((emperumAn) kept his divine hand on (hiraNyan’s) chest) and periya thirumozhi 2-3-8 “ugirththalaththai UnRinAy” ((you) firmly anchored your divine nails), hiraNyan, due to sadness over all these, could have become favourable.
iraNiyan oN mArvu agalam – hiraNyan’s chest which was shiny and broad. oL – shiny; hiraNyan’s chest was shiny due to the fire from narasimha’s anger and the fire of fear in hiraNyan’s blood. The resultant heat made his chest to be shiny just as gold, melting in the presence of fire, would shine. This [heat] made it easy for narasimha’s divine nails to tear hiraNyan’s body effortlessly. The term agalam [broad] suggests that due to the strength of his boons as well as the strength of his shoulders, hiraNyan’s chest had become expansive, making it an apt prey for the divine nails of narasimha.
thiruvAimozhip piLLai says here that hiraNyan’s chest was such broad that there was sufficient space for emperumAn to keep all his ten finger nails [while tearing his chest].
piLandhu … – just as it has been said in periya thirumozhi 5-3-3 “udalagam irupiLavAk kaiyil neeL ugirp padaiyadhu vAyththavanE” (Oh, one who had the army of long nails with which you had torn the body into two pieces!), you should clap with your divine hands, with the divine nails, with which you had torn the body of hiraNyan into two pieces.
thiruvAimozhip piLLai says here that emperumAn tore his chest such that periya pirAttiyAr was worried as to what will befall emperumAn if his divine hands hit hiraNyan’s hard bones just as it has been mentioned in mudhal thiruvandhAdhi 23 “pUngOdhaiyAL veruva” (periya pirAtti feared as to what will happen to the world). He further says that if krishNa now claps his hands, AzhwAr could see is there are any blood stains on his divine fingers.
pEy mulai … – pUthanA did not come in an unfavourable form, like hiraNyan. She came deceitfully, in the form of (krishNa’s) mother, as mentioned in periya thirumozhi 1-5-6 “thAyAy vandha pEy” (the fiend who came as a mother). Oh, one who consumed her milk along with her life! You should clap.
thiruvAimozhip piLLai says here that for one who had consumed the poisoned milk of the fiend, would any pain come when he tore the chest of hiraNyan?
We shall next consider the 10th pAsuram of this thirumozhi.
adiyEn krishNa rAmAnuja dhAsan
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